Megachurch Pastor Who Abused 14 Girls Released From Prison After Serving 25-Month Sentence
Former megachurch youth pastor Robert Shiflet has been released for good behavior after only serving 25 months in jail, eight less than the 33 he was initially sentenced. Though accused of abusing 14 girls, he was only convicted of two. The first, he lured a 15-year-old girl from her youth group during a church camping weekend and sexually assaulted her, and the second, he had sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl on a bus trip. According to reports:
Shiflet was convicted in June 2021, and an Arkansas district court sentenced him to 33 months in federal prison, which was less than the suggested 41 to 51 months and below the statutory maximum of 10 years on the first count and 15 on the second.
A transcript of the sentencing states this was because of a sentencing range miscalculation. If Judge Lee Rudofsky had not accepted the plea deal, Shiflet could have withdrawn his guilty plea and gone to trial.
Rudofsky accepted the plea agreement because while Shiflet’s victims had agreed to testify, they were worried Shiflet would be acquitted if the case went to trial and be able to reenter society with no restrictions. The judge said he wanted to ensure they received justice, even if it was not what he believed to be an appropriate punishment.
At his sentencing, the judge said he wished he could have sent Shiflet to prison for longer, calling him a threat to society:
“You are a terrible person. I don’t believe that you are sorry in the slightest. I don’t believe you have rehabilitated yourself. I believe you haven’t been caught again, but I don’t believe you have rehabilitated yourself.”
“I don’t think you are a good person, and I don’t think you stand a chance of becoming a good person. If it was up to me and you had been found guilty after a trial, I would have sent you away for 25 years.”
Following the revelations of the youth pastor’s behavior, the church admitted that they failed to stop the abuse and address multiple red flags regarding Shiflet’s behavior.
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Just no words.
Some suggest the death penalty for child molestation. I wouldn’t go that far, but I am much closer to that than … 25 months!
As Woke-ism/leftism continues its subversion of society — and of biblical Christianity — then this kind of person will be fully protected from any consequences, and will be deemed a victim.